GOLDEN-ROD AND ASTERS. 237 



10. Solidago odor a. Sweet golden-rod. Blooms 

 about the middle of August. Leaves bright green, 

 indistinctly three-ribbed, smooth, or very nearly so, 

 without teeth, shining, and somewhat dotted. Stem 

 slender and usually smooth, often reclining, and near- 

 ly cylindrical. Flower small, with three or four 

 large, golden -yellow rays. Flower clusters spreading 

 in one-sided, rather small plumes. The crushed 

 leaves of this species yield a pleasant aniselike odor. 

 S. odora is common in dry and sandy soil, particular- 

 ly near the coast ; it frequently occurs in the pine 

 barrens of New Jersey. It grows from two to three 

 feet high. 



11. Solidago ccesia. Blue-stemmed golden-rod. 

 Blooms about the first of September. Leaves dark- 

 green, feather-veined, smooth, distinctly toothed, 

 lance-shaped, and pointed. Stem slender, slightly 

 angular, covered with a plumlike purple bloom, 

 reclining, and often much-branched. Flower very 

 large, bright golden yellow, with from three to five 

 large rays a full sixteenth of an inch broad. Flower 

 clusters small and hemispherical or oblong, like those 

 of the lilac ; they are arranged along the curved stem 

 at the points from which the leaves grow. This 

 species, although not particularly effective, is one of 

 the handsomest of all ; it loves the shady, wooded 

 roadside, and grows about three feet high. We 



